Two incidents of armed robbery took place at Kings Park stadium despite promises to beef up security.
|||Durban - Two incidents of armed robbery took place at Kings Park stadium on Friday night, despite promises to beef up security.
The principal of a leading Durban private school, a mother of two who declined to be named, was part of a group of five friends who went to watch the Sharks and the Crusaders play on Friday night.
“We were in a suite and afterwards decided to go to One Stop for a night of fun,” she said. The group left the bar at 1am and headed to where they had parked.
“We paid R40 to park the car at the Stables side of the stadium and expected some security presence, especially since we weren’t the last to leave.”
On the way to their car they were accosted by two gun-wielding men. “The one guy put a gun to my face and said, ‘Give me the bag’.”
The visibly shaken principal, who was hit on the head with the butt of the gun, said she fell, bleeding profusely.
“They took the car keys, our cellphones and jewellery. They went to the car, opened all the doors and casually walked away into the bushes,” said the principal.
She blamed lax security at the stadium, saying that they were not the first or the last victims of such a crime.
“These incidents happen in the surrounding areas of the stadium. If they provide us with entertainment, they must also provide security until the entertainment is over.
“We called 10111, but it rang once and went dead,” she said.
Liesl van der Merwe, 25, from Glenwood said, “He approached me, put the gun to my cheek and told me to take off my chain and earrings.”
In another incident, a cricket coach was accosted by two men near the Berea Rovers clubhouse before being taken at gunpoint to an ATM where the men forced him to withdraw money.
The coach, who also declined to be named, would not comment, saying he was still traumatised and had been advised by the police not to divulge details of the incident.
Just two weeks ago, South African-born Brett Williams, 29, died at a rugby after-party at the Sharks-Melbourne Rebels game.
He was set upon on the outer fields by five burly men who beat him to a pulp.
amanda.khoza@inl.co.za
Sunday Tribune